The Maritimes

Immediately following Andrew’s  30th birthday party (see post below), we headed to the Maritimes for 2 weeks with my mom and Chuck.  We visited PEI and Halifac–with a few short stops in St. John and Quebec City (on the way home!)  We had a good time, however, Mother Nature was not cooperating! It didn’t rain every day, but it was definitely not warm or sunny.  Though we did get a little bit of sun for brief, fleeting moments! In any case, as much as I hated lugging umbrellas and raincoats everywhere, it definitely made the experience more authentic, and of course sometimes the gray skies lend themselves to creating a certain mood in your photos.  Here are some highlights from the trip.

Cavendish, PEI–We stayed in a quaint little B & B called Kindred Spirits–EVERYTHING in PEI is about Anne of Green Gables I should add–so even the B&B made reference to it!   This was such a quaint and lovely place.  We also had access to an outdoor pool and hot tub! 

Here are some pictures of the interior and the grounds–really lovely!

 

 and a GREAT shot taken by my extraordinarily talented mother–I have to exaggerate here because I can’t count the number of times she would crop heads out and take blurry photos–so I was impressed to have at least one good shot of us–on the steps at Kindred Spirits.

Not far from this place, was “Avonlea”–a re-created village of what Lucy Maude Montgomery’s time would have been like.  Since it was sunny–this is real blue sky in the photo by the way–we walked over (it literally took about 10 min to get there on foot) to check it out.  Unfortunately, they wanted $22 each to walk through the village, which we were not willing to pay.  You could pretty much see everything from outside the entrance anyways! Instead, we hung out with the horses for a bit–it was free

Andrew made a friend!

Ok, so we didn’t go into village, but of course, checked out the gift–no I didn’t purchase this hat–although my mom owns it from her first visit here! Why qam I not surprised

They even put her name on the chocolates!! –From this point on, we are in Charlottetown, where we spent Canada Day

 

And what trip to PEI would be complete without first stopping at Cow’s: I am not even going to tell you how long this little collage took me to do in Photoshop–please admire it! haha

After chowing down, we crossed the street to a little carnival and petting zoo that was set up for kids (and big kids too!)  Some of the goats were trying to reach the food machine with their toungues from the gate, it was pretty funny.

While in Charlottetown, we also visited Parliament house, where the Fathers of Confederation came together to discuss Canada’s future.  We even got to watch a 20 minute movie about it.  Yay.  haha…Architecturally, it’s a very nice building.  Ok, I know it’s important in the history of Canada–it’s just not my thing–I am so not a history buff! I will say however, that the video was highly entertaining–some fine young actors, let me tell you

Here is the room where they agreed on the Charlottetown Accord

 

 

 

After that, we shopped around–we did a lot of that–I saw many, many gift shops– and of course, the recurring theme was: all things nautical. Here are some Maritime inspired shots taken inside stores–you have to be so sneaky to do this!

I love this shot–one because of the window light and two because it basically sums up the Maritimes (and the Maritimes souvenirs) in a nutshell–fishermen in yellow rain coats, blue noses, sand dollars and shells, lobster traps and boats in general!

Andrew insisted that we purchase this for our living room, but I had to give him the thumbs down   I just don’t think it works with our decor!

Later that same day, it turns out the sun came out for a bit, so we headed for a nearby beach–perfect for some beach shots and couples portraits!

My  mom having some fun with a giant stick and the sand—for some reason, that just sounds so wrong,lol, but look at the picture, it will all make sense!

Monkey see, monkey do:)

Another day, I think out last in PEI we visited Spinakers’ Landing.  Pretty much all gift shops, but the colours were cute, so it made a nice photo.

Ok, so I gave into a second cheesy tourist photo opp–meet Lorenzo–they only Lobster I think it adorable!Our last night in

Nest stop–Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Here is a view from the ferry as we’re pulling away from the Island.

Once in Halifax, Andrew and I got set up at our  second B&B–the Heritage Hideaway.  Diane and Martin were our hosts and they were wonderful! The breakfasts served to us here were insanely delicious–3 course meals everyday! The food was amazing and we enjoyed our stay in this Victorian inspired house!  It was definitely lavishly decorated and while I’m not personally a fan of all things Victorian, we thourougly enjoyed our stay, primarily because of the food and hospitality–oh and a big comfy bed and private washroom was nice as well!  Here are some photos of the place:

Our room–the Carriage Room

The dining room–where we indulged in amazing breakfasts each morning!

One of our first stops was at the Halifax Harbour–there are lots of big, fancy ships!

Oh, he was in the Harbour too…

 

Speaking of ships, Andrew and I decided to take a “whale” watching “cruise”.  Granted we definitely weren’t on a ship, nor did we see any whales, we did see and learn about lobsters and not to mention a feeding frenzy of seagulls.  Ok, so maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but I definitely enjoyed snapping pics of the birds–I got some great bird in flight shots with my 18-135 lens.  They told us we didn’t see any because of the weather, but I think it’s a big scam, lol!  Here are some shots from our afternoon on the water!

Our cruise ship–the Haligonian

In case a whale knocks the boat over…

A lobster trap demonstration

They were showing the difference between male and female by looking at the bellies–honestly can’t remember because I don’t plan on ever finding out haha!

Fascinating, yet disgusting at the same time!

N-A-RRRR-S-T-Y!!!!  Look how ugly that little bugger is!?–The lobsert of course  

Yay! Blue skies!!

Andrew watching carefully for whales…no whales but a few harbour seals

Alright, onto the seagulls.  Honestly, I took like 100 shots of seagulls and have sifted through them to share some of the best with you! I’ve narrowed it down to a few good ones!! This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to bird photography!

 

This one makes me laugh because his feet are out, like he’s coming in for a landing,but he’s not! Shot a few seconds later, he would have been in the frame completely

 

Ok, one more!

Onto Peggy’s Cove we go–I’ll admit, I was kind of cranky when we went to Peggy’s Cove because I ahd REALLY hoped that it would be sunny and not only was it gray and cold, but it was also rainy–forcing me to cover my camera (and my hair!)

In any case, after all was said and done, I think the sombre sky lent itself to create a mood/feeling in the photos.  I have seen some really amazing shots of Peggy’s Cove, all at different times of the day.  I wasn’t overly impressed with it all, but I think a lot had to do with the weather.  What I really enjoyed though was shooting the fishing village that is a part of Peggy’s Cove.  Here are some of my favourites from the day.

 

 The f

 The Fishing Village: lots of colours and Maritime inspired goodness! I love my camera

Gross, I know, but makes for a great start to the series!   The rest are much more appealing, I promise!

 The things I see…

These ones were taken by Andrew–yes, sometimes he’s allowed to use the camera   It was a wedding gift afterall, I guess that means it’s OUR camera

I know, it’s just and old tire, but it screamed “photograph me!” when I saw it.  What can I say

just rope,  but it’s artistic rope

I love the run down feel of this place

Lobster traps–not of the souvenir variety!

 

Love all the colourful little homes

This is one of my favourites

The Halifax Citadel–again, not so  much into the history, nor was I particularly impressed with the Citadel–kind of boring–but Andrew liked it.  We got to hear the canon go off at noon–as does the whole city!

 

Lots of big canons…and that’s about it!

I much prefered the Halifax Public Gardens

I love the pinks and purples in this one, so pretty

A rose by any other name…

And finally, our last stop on the trip was in St. John, NB.  Really, there wasn’t much to see at all.  We enjoyed the Bay of Fundy

High tide

Low Tide

 

and our last St. John outing–a trip to the saddest zoo I’ve ever been to–a couple colourful shots for you

and a brilliant shot by Andrew

So that’s it! Thank you so much for continuing until the end! Hope you enjoyed the photographic summary of our summer trip this year!  Just before I say goodbye, here is the little ornament and postcard I bought at Peggy’s Cove.  Andrew and I always buy a Christmas ornament on our vacations and try really hard to pick something significant.  Upon finding this one, we knew it was perfect–and cute!  (and thank you mom for finding him again after I was too cheap to buy it the first time–even though you both told me I’d find it somewhere cheaper!)